The number has increased by at least seven every year since 2008, when there were 41 reported deaths.

Seventy-two were killed in 2011, an increase of 16 from the previous year, according to the the FBI’s preliminary report Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2011.

The full report will be available this fall.

Two of those killed in 2011 were Augusta-area officers.

Richmond County sheriff’s Deputy J.D. Paugh was gunned down while checking on a suspicious vehicle Oct. 23.

Aiken Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson was shot Dec. 20 while on a traffic stop outside Pace’s Run Apartments.

Aiken Public Safety lost another officer when Master Cpl. Sandra Rogers was shot Jan. 28 while checking on a suspicious vehicle.

The South had the highest number of officers killed in 2011.

Statistically, the South always has a higher number of victims, which the FBI attributes to being its the nation’s most populous region.

Last year, 29 officers were killed in the South, 21 in the Midwest and 10 each in the West and Northeast.

Two were killed in Puerto Rico.

An additional 50 officers were killed in accidents, a decrease from 72 deaths in 2010.

The announcement came at the beginning of National Police Week. In 1962, President Ken­nedy designated May 15 as Peace Officers Me­morial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week.

Thou­sands of officers traveled to Wash­ington, D.C., this week to honor colleagues who died in the line of duty.

Many from the Augusta area made the trip to honor Paugh and Richardson.

Ten of the 122 officer deaths were in Georgia, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. South Carolina had four.

Accord­ing to the initial report, 19 officers were killed during ambushes, five while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, 11 in traffic stops, five during robberies and four during disturbance calls.

In 63 of the cases, firearms were used. Of the 72 victims, 49 were wearing body armor.

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Let's see how many of these cop killers are already convicted felons released back into society by weak judges and a lax judicial system. The numbers are very troubling and something must be done in order to reverse this trend.

Csra, thanks for the link. Your absolutely right about these weak judges who put cop killers back on the streets. Police Officers give alot and some give all, and this is what they get in return? Their killers walking the streets again to do just what an officer gave his life to stop them from. Justice

Take this from an experienced convict. Expect more death. Every one who wants one has a gun. And, powerful guns at that.

With 25% of the earth's prisoner and only 5% of the world population, our Great Nation is the incarceration capital of the world and Georgia (imprisoning over 1000 per 100,000 people) is the prison capital of the United States (e.g. Minnesota imprisons 300 per). Do you really believe, we Georgians are that bad?

Georgia is the gulag of the West. Here, prison is pretty much a torture chamber covered up so regular people cannot see the horror. And, every one on the "street" knows to expect a long harsh sentence for pretty much any infraction. No one can leave the gulag the same, almost all will suffer Post Traumatic Prison Disorder and be scarred for life.

Thus, if you have such a street mentality, which many already do and the list is growing by leaps and bounds, it is far better to shoot your way out than face the Draconian courts. And, you can bet, mandatory death sentences will only encourage all the more shooting, I mean at that level what has the shooter got to gain by being civil?

Plus prisoners, regardless of death sentences, who shoot authorities are revered by their fellow felons, so even if caught, incarceration will be eased on the inside in that the killer will be treated like a veritable folk hero. Trust me, control on the inside is largely in the hands of the prisoners. No one can stop that.

In fact, should you, knowing what the prisoner class knows, face the same, no doubt, many of you would choose to shoot your way out also. Why not? A chance at getting away is worth the risk relative to being subjected to the Draco inspired Georgia prisons.

Oh yes, until our Great Nation understands how to manage crime with sanity (including controlling guns) you can expect more and more death.

"Variances in the number of police officers killed from year to year are common. In 2009, 117 were killed, a 50-year low, compared with 160 killed in 2010 – 59 of them in shootouts. But in five of the past 10 years, the number of police officer deaths topped 160, making the decade almost as dangerous for police as the street wars of the 1970s, when the average number of officers killed per year hovered around 200. And in the gangster heyday of the 1920s, about 150 died every year." CSM

However, 5000 people die, mostly horrible deaths, in prison every year.

Many convicts agree a shootout, going out in a "blaze of glory" beats dying a slow torturous death by prison confinement.

And, this prison sentiment is growing with our incarceration rates. Today, our Great Nation imprisons 2,500,000 people with another 12 million plus under the yolk of post prison distress.
How on earth can we improve with our justice system skewed in the gulag direction.

SS, I don't for one minute believe that those who kill police officers are doing it to avoid the torture and pain of Georgia prisons. Im sure one of the reasons is to avoid going to jail, but the main reason is their just evil. That's why once convicted the death penalty should be given. These individuals no longer haves anything to offer society.